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Thursday, July 29, 2010

We went to the doctor for a checkup today. It was much of the same. Blair's lungs are still crackly like they always are. They're not too bad -- just little crackles. And Blair is busy like she always is! Even the resident commented on her activity level! (This was as she was standing on the edge of the examination table yelling at me, "jump!") I cannot even say how often people comment on how busy Blair is. I still wonder if those who say that are thinking in the back of their minds, this kid's gonna need medication!

The good news is that, busy or not, Blair gained 12 ounces in just over a month! She now weighs 19 pounds 9 ounces and is 32 and 3/4 inches tall! We're about to hit the magic 20! Overall the child eats like a bird, but since Blair started eating cheese not too long ago, I have really taken advantage of it. She eats a lot of grilled cheese and grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, both cooked with plenty of butter on the bread! She also now eats macaroni and cheese. And she still eats waffles (to which I add melted butter), although she prefers to just cook them instead, and she likes cereal -- cinnamon toast crunch like her GT. She no longer likes carrots, her former favorite, but she will still put down some yogurt in a heart beat! She's gotten so good at feeding herself. She even tilts the cup and scrapes it with the spoon to get all the yogurt, or pudding which she loves as well. As far as healthy stuff, she eats green beans and sweet potato. And that's about it unless you count pasta with tomato sauce.

Lately she's been doing fairly well with her oxygen saturation while sleeping. For a few months, she was needing oxygen during her naps, but now she rarely does. When she goes to bed, I usually put her down and put the oxygen on later before I go to bed. There are nights that the monitor doesn't alarm even without the oxygen, and there are nights when I have to go ahead and put it on her 45 minutes after she falls asleep. I talked to the nurse practitioner for a bit today, and she said that some kids just hang on to the oxygen for a while. It's our normal, so it's okay. We'll do what we have to do and keep praying for God to protect Blair and continue to heal her.

We found out that they are recommending Blair for the RSV prevention shots again this year. She meets the under 2 age limit by a week, so hopefully she'll be approved. Like many things for us, it's definitely bittersweet. It's great that she might be able to get the shots again and be protected, but it's not so great that she needs them and that she's got to actually get the monthly shots. If she's approved we'll be using home health for the shots this year since Blair is old enough to learn to hate the doctor's office. The dosage will have to be split, so she will get at least two shots each month she gets Synagis -- probably for 5 months. That's in addition to the flu shot and her 2 year shots she will need. Last year, she learned that the alcohol was rubbed on her leg before getting a shot, and she started crying. This year it could be worse. She's very tough though, so hopefully it won't be too bad. We'll have lots of presents planned!

In other health news, Blair loves her hearing aids. She asks for them in the morning, after her bath, and when she wakes from her nap. She and Brad were playing in her room right after waking up one morning this week; and she put her fingers in her ears, got up out of her daddy's lap, went and got her hearing aids, and brought them to Brad. She seems to be repeating a lot more of what we say now too. I don't notice that she necessarily responds to sounds better because she already responded so well, but I have noticed that she may be vocalizing more. We'll see!

One other thing is that Blair chipped her tooth on Tuesday. She was playing next to our tub and leaned down while standing to close. It was the tooth that was already shorter for some reason, so now it's super shorter. More about the tooth and my tub in a later post!

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Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!